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  #106  
Old 06-15-2014, 10:30 AM
Uncle Dude Uncle Dude is offline
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Glad I found this. Congratulations to you both.
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  #107  
Old 10-23-2016, 06:13 PM
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Bumping this thread because I bought this guitar from Jackaroo so as not to go through LeGeyt withdrawal before my parlour shows up. Take a refreshed look!

edited links for clarity


I don't think I've been excited about a guitar since my Meridian arrived! Hope to post some sound clips soon. Jack was gracious to send to a Burton first and he's giving it a little spa treatment, setup, etc. will keep you guys posted, but I think it only fitting that the guitar that first piqued my interest in Burton's work come home with me.

Last edited by CoolerKing; 10-01-2017 at 11:22 AM.
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  #108  
Old 10-23-2016, 07:08 PM
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So clean! Have fun.
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  #109  
Old 10-23-2016, 07:11 PM
Uncle Dude Uncle Dude is offline
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Congratulations!

I've always thought this was a beautiful looking guitar.
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  #110  
Old 10-27-2016, 08:06 PM
Martin Keith Martin Keith is offline
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I played Burton's guitars at Mike D's party last weekend (during the Woodstock show). They were just fantastic - almost depressingly good, from another builder's perspective. EVERYthing is so clean and intentional, every last detail. And, of course - they're light, perky, and giant-sounding. Really gorgeous stuff at every level. Heck of a nice guy too. Congrats!
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  #111  
Old 10-28-2016, 12:07 PM
Burton LeGeyt Burton LeGeyt is offline
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Hey- Thanks Martin! I was glad to finally meet you too, it sounds like we may have a lot in common- And no one has ever called my guitars perky before but I love it, and don't disagree

This guitar should ship Monday down to Matthew. It got a full setup, a little refresher in spots on the french polish and a new photo shoot. Everything sounds great, it was a treat for me to get to hear it again after a few years and see how it opened up. Also to evaluate the neck- Based on the numbers I took when I sent it out there was realistically no change in the relief, which is what I expected but was still good to see for real.
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Last edited by CoolerKing; 10-01-2017 at 11:22 AM.
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  #112  
Old 11-12-2016, 01:11 PM
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To update folks on my initial forming impressions now that I've had the guitar for about a week:

The French polish finish, while lots of elbow grease for the builder as well as needing a vigilant owner to protect, is IMHO a major factor in the success of this guitar. People talk about thickness of finish and the wood breathing and some other stuff that is quasi-voodoo, but if you've played a properly French polished instrument before then you might have the same vague insight as to what I'm alluding. Soemthing about feeling the true grain of the wood on the top as well as the ebonized satin neck makes me really connect with the guitar in an immediately tactile way. Tactile is a great adjective I think for this work of art. It is the most easily playable instrument I've owned.

I'll segue into a description of the tone. This is the first modern instrument I've played where I felt that I could really hear the back and sides in a balanced fashion compared to being overwhelmed by the top. I'm not disparaging any of my previous modern instruments or others I've played at festivals, and perhaps this is a component of exposure bias and confirmation bias, in that I've bought the darn thing and had a chance to play it for a week rather than an hour. That said, I feel that now knowing some of Burton's signature feel and tone, that I would be able to attribute some of the wonderful tone to the excellent set of Brazilian it sports and the way in which he incorporates it. While still very light, I think this guitar really exhibits all the great properties that we ascribe to Braz, definitely the cool dark brick red color in person with some wonderful reverb-ey overtones (whatever that means.)

This guitar is a very good fit for my preferences both in terms of playability and playing style, ie strictly instrumental fingerstyle and moving far away from flatpicking and strumming, although I'm sure it would do fine there (I'd just be worried about the French polish top and a flat pick in the long run.) Given the opportunity to make that decision myself for this specific instrument it was IMHO clearly the right decision to go with French polish. When I'm doing some instrumental jazz and transitioning from fingerpicking chords to picking out individual riffs it does very well with that, even though I play very strangely and always with nails, never picks, More McKee than Immanuel.

I suspect that if I was blindfolded at a guitar festival and given this guitar, my old Brondel A2c hog/adi/varnish, the Meridian, and a handful of other luthier instruments I would pick this in the top two I've played (albeit having the opportunity to play it for a much longer period and trying to remove the confirmation bias of an expensive purchase.) It fits that well into my own personal preferences.

When I have the time I'll try and post some more photos, and perhaps a recording, but as many have lamented, my recording skills suck secondary to both equipment and overall lack of skill.

Last edited by CoolerKing; 11-12-2016 at 01:20 PM.
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  #113  
Old 11-12-2016, 01:39 PM
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Matthew, you sound like a very happy camper...

One thing to consider, particularly living in a warm/humid environment like the Keys when playing a French polished guitar as a safety precaution is to wear long sleeves when playing to minimize the chance that moisture from your forearm doesn't cause the shellac to react.
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  #114  
Old 11-12-2016, 02:14 PM
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Great review! I'm so glad you're happy, and surprised about the effect of the finish. I'm not surprised you are impressed. Burton's guitars at SBAIC were probably my favorites. I'm glad he recognized me and pulled me aside to play his guitars. It was an amazing experience!

Last edited by justonwo; 11-14-2016 at 06:40 PM.
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  #115  
Old 11-12-2016, 07:19 PM
swiftz07 swiftz07 is offline
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Really beautiful. And that Brazillian looks amazing. Congratulations!
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  #116  
Old 11-13-2016, 10:39 PM
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Thanks for sharing...! I've had my new LeGeyt for a couple weeks now... It's continues to impress me more and more... I couldn't be happier.... well, I take that back, if I found 7 ounces of 24K Gold casting grain pellets in the case compartment I suppose I'd be happier....😜
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  #117  
Old 06-07-2018, 10:01 PM
johnpublic95 johnpublic95 is offline
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Can you "compare" this one with your old BRONDEL A-2c? i know one is Hog and the other is Braz. but that said, as a Fingerstyle player, I adore my 3 Brondel's (did someone say GAS??) and have never played a LeGeyt .. curious ..

Jay
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  #118  
Old 06-08-2018, 06:28 AM
Jwills57 Jwills57 is offline
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Hey, Guitar Friends--I'd like to comment on the French Polish insights. A couple of years ago I had a matching pair of guitars made for me by a young German luthier named Alexander Voss, like the shape of classical guitars but steel strings, 14-fret joins, slotted peg heads. Anyway, these guitars are French Polished, and I can definitely tell a difference from a "normal" guitar, in that the Voss guitars just have a more open, deeper, more transparent quality to them as newer guitars, compared to a newer Martin or Taylor or even a newer American luthier-built guitar. Perhaps other design and construction elements account for this, but I think the French Polish is a big factor. These guitars are excellent, not better or worse, but a joy to play. I handle my guitars pretty carefully and don't take them out of the house too much, so the "touchiness" of a French Polished finish hasn't been an issue for me. You can see pictures of the guitars and see what else Alexander's been up to if you google "Voss Guitars Facebook Pages" and scroll through the entries. Europe is producing some incredible guitar makers these days, and Alexander is definitely one to keep an eye on. Best, Jack
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  #119  
Old 06-08-2018, 07:35 AM
Simon Fay Simon Fay is offline
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The post above is correct regarding French Polish. I think the same might be true of a thin oil varnish finish such as used by Laurent Brondel and Bruce Sexauer as their default finish. I use a polyester finish that is extremely thin - typically between 0.002" and 0.003" on the soundboard. My French Polish (FP) finishes are probably closer to 0.0015 to 0.002" thick. The FP finish gives my guitars a slightly more open and vibrant sound. It isn't a massive difference tho' because my default finish is so thinly applied -- rather, it is a subtle difference on the guitars that I build.

Assuming you can get a thinly applied modern finish on the top, then that is the route that I would recommend for most steel string players. If you want the best sound you can possibly get and are okay with a super delicate top, then FP is the way to go. Personally, I prefer the extra durability over the very slight tonal improvement I get with my own FP instruments.

One thing to consider is that most finishes are applied more heavily than they need to be - so French Polish is one way to ensure that you are getting a thin film. In such cases, FP finish could yield substantial tonal improvement.
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  #120  
Old 06-10-2018, 07:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnpublic95 View Post
Can you "compare" this one with your old BRONDEL A-2c? i know one is Hog and the other is Braz. but that said, as a Fingerstyle player, I adore my 3 Brondel's (did someone say GAS??) and have never played a LeGeyt .. curious ..

Jay
They aren’t too far off from each other. It’s been a couple of years, but the two LeGeyts I played were fundamental-focused. The mahogany backed LeGeyt really knocked me out. Powerful and complex. I also had a mahogany Brondel a few years back. The power, projection, and fundamental/overtone balamce were very similar. I also adore Brondel guitars and can say LeGeyts also ring my bell.
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